Your Editor Is Not Your Enemy

 By Andrea Merrell

Editors have been called everything from Grammar Nazis to Professional Nit-pickers. Many folks have a love/hate relationship with the ones they have worked with. 

Let’s rephrase the saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger” to “Don’t shoot the editor.”

The first time we get our manuscript back and see where the editor has bled all over the pages with red ink—or demolished our manuscript with track changes and comments—our heart almost stops, and our brain goes into panic mode. Our first thought might be, Oh, my goodness, I thought I was a writer … guess it’s back to flipping burgers.

After the initial shock wears off and we readjust our attitude (putting on our teachable hat), we make a decision to learn from the process. What we have to realize is that the editor is not our enemy. (I recently saw a meme on Facebook that said "The editor is not our enema." All the more reason we need our editors).  

On the contrary, an editor's role is to help teach us the basics, introduce us to industry standards, and make us look as good as possible. Input from a seasoned editor with an eye for detail and a heart for good writing can make our stories shine.

We all need help. Trust me, no one is perfect. Even the best editor and best-selling author needs an editor. Here are a few examples of the advice you might receive:

• Tighten your writing by eliminating redundant words and phrases.
• Cut out the excessive exclamation points and quotation marks.
• Work on showing-not-telling.
• Don't mix past and present tense.
• Pay careful attention to point of view (head-hopping).
• Learn the difference between speaker tags and beats, and use them wisely.

A good editor can be a writer’s best friend.

Here are a few funny quotes I think you will enjoy:

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” 
― Dr. Seuss

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” 
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“There Are Two Typos Of People In This World: Those Who Can Edit And Those Who Can’t.” 
― Jarod Kintz

“When you write a book, you spend day after day scanning and identifying the trees. When you’re done, you have to step back and look at the forest.” 
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

“I'm writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” 
― Shannon Hale

“Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.” 
― Patricia Fuller

“Edit your manuscript until your fingers bleed and you have memorized every last word. Then, when you are certain you are on the verge of insanity ... edit one more time!” 
― C.K. Webb

“Editing is the very edge of your knowledge forced to grow—a test you can't cheat on.” 
― S. Kelley Harrell

“You should edit before and after editing.” 
― Dwayne Fry

“There is no great writing, only great rewriting.” 
― Justice Louis Brandeis

“Writing is like shadow boxing. Editing is when the shadows fight back.” 
― Adam Copeland

“Remove the comma, replace the comma, remove the comma, replace the comma ...” 
― R.D. Ronald

“When reading I pretend I’m an editor, though when writing I realize I’m not.” 
― Fierce Dolan

“Apparently, my hopes, dreams and aspirations were no match against my poor spelling, punctuation, and grammar.” 
― Red Red Rover

“Editing is like pruning the rose bush you thought was so perfect and beautiful until it overgrew the garden.” 
― Larry Enright

“Edit your author as you would be edited.” 
― Barbara Sjoholm, An Editor's Guide to Working with Authors

How has your experience been working with an editor?

(All quotes courtesy of Goodreads.)

 

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash